Tower of Evil
by Ellie Arrow
Summary: Ashleigh shows up at Tower Prep to find out all of it's secrets.  OC/Ian, CJ/ Cal BY: ELLIE ARROW


Endings at Home, Beginnings at Tower Prep

Walking is boring once you find a way to skip it. And trust me, I had. I have a gift. That's what I'll call it. When I meet other people with gifts, all I have to do is kiss them, and their gift is mine. But the cool thing is, it doesn't have to be a passionate kind of kiss. Just the ability is only absorbed through my lips. And also when I say 'gift' I don't mean a present. I mean a special power that few people have.

My name is Ashleigh Cook. I am an 8th grader at a private school in a small town in Tennessee. Or at least I was.

The night that my parents were watching TV in the living room faded, and I started to fall asleep. You know when you're about to fall asleep, you are in that little in-between place, where you want to fall asleep, and you can hear and see everything, but you can't move or speak. I didn't really care that I was in that in between place, and I feel asleep on my soft, boring brown living room couch. I woke to someone shaking me and rushing me upstairs, so I went to play on my iPod. I turned on my favorite song, _The Scientist, _by Coldplay. Then while I was a listening to it, I heard a buzzing, and I knew something was about to happen. Then I got an email.

Dear Ashleigh,

When you arrive, you will remember yellow elevators. Go down into the sewers and find the yellow elevator. Contact me when you find them. I will give you the next step to surviving once you find the yellow elevators. All will be explained when you arrive. If you come to orientation.

Sincerely,

Wisper119

Who was Wisper119? When I arrive where? As far as I knew, I wasn't going on another trip until the winter. And then, everything went black.

I woke up in a brightly lit room, with blue walls and a light brown carpet. I was laying on a comfortable bed about 3 feet by 7 feet. To my left was a small bookcase with one drawer and room underneath for books. To my right there was a closet with my name across it.

"Morning, rookie!"

I jumped at the sound of a voice. Her name was Candace something, she was the headmaster's daughter, and she had dark thoughts running through her head. Her emotions were excited, scared, and a little weirded out. That made two of us. There was also a girl beside her named Suki Sato. She was the daughter of a large electronics manufacturing company, and she knew about how those kinds of things worked. She had good thoughts running through her head and dreamed of escape like her, Gabe Forest, and someone named Ian Archer all did. Candace also was in their little group, but didn't want to leave her father. Now you're going to ask, how do you know all this? Well, when I was little, I kissed my first boy. He just happened to be a mind reader. In the third grader, I kissed a boy who could read emotions. In the fourth grade, I kissed a boy could take one look at someone and know their power, their psychological build, and all the secrets they were trying to hide. I've kissed other guys, but they were normals, or they didn't have any powers.

"God Candace, you scared me!"

"How do you know my name?"

"Your closet." I quickly lied.

"But my closet doesn't have a name tag." She said back.

Admittedly, not a great lie. I got up. I was wearing my furry leopard print shorts and my blue aquarium T-shirt with pictures of frogs on them.

"Where is your dad?" I asked her.

Her face immediately contorted to a look of shock and slightly raged. _I must of not heard her correctly. She did not say 'Where is your dad.'_

_"_Um, sorry to rain on your surprise but I did say'Where is your dad."

She did nothing. Then I saw what they were wearing. Oh God no, this was another private school with a dress code.

"You have to wear the uniform." Suki said lightly.

"Thank you. At least somebody will give me somewhat useful information. Now I can go tell the headmaster I ain't wearing that ridiculous uniform." I said staring pointedly at Candace. Even if I already knew that, a chance to make Candace feel crummy was a chance. I didn't like her. "Would you mind helping me pick out clothes to wear? I don't want to look weird on my first day at Tower Prep."

"How do you know where we are?" Candace asked suspiciously.

"I saw a sign when I woke up in the middle of a car ride, and it said Tower Prep."

I learned a long time ago that if someone didn't already know your gifts, you didn't tell anyone. Not even your closest friends.

"Candace, I don't know why you are so suspicious of me when I haven't given you one reason for being anywhere close to a spy."

"My name isn't Candace it's CJ." She said.

"Whatever."

So Suki helped me pick out an outfit to wear and showed me where headmaster's office was.

All new students must go to orientation. Orientation starts in 5 minutes.

Finally. All the questions that I already knew answered. Brilliant.

"Do you need me to show you where it is?" Suki asked politely.

"That would be great." I responded.

After an extremely boring orientation, I heard the announcer say that Nutrition had started. "It's lunch," I heard Suki think.

Awesome. I was kind of getting hungry.

"Do you want to sit with us during lunch?" CJ asked.

"Does it look like I have any other friends?" I asked back.

"Touché." CJ muttered.

So I followed Suki to a long row of microwaves. She and CJ opened up a random one and pulled out a cheeseburger and a salad. I pulled open one and the smell of Roman noodles floated out. My stomach let out a sigh of want.

As I daintily scarfed down my soup, a handsome guy came up to our table and began talking in depth to CJ. He had dark brown hair and was tall. He looked like he would be a pretty good athlete. His power was super-human hearing.

"Well, who do we have here?"

"My name is Ashleigh. It's nice to meet you Calvin."

"Don't call me Calvin. I'm Cal."

"Ok, my bad." I apologized.

"So how old are you?" Cal asked.

"13." I said.

"Who do you room with?"

"Right now I'm rooming with CJ and Suki."

"Cool."

Just then another guy came. He was even cuter than the first. He had blonde hair, tan skin, and pretty good-sized muscles for a kid only two years older than me. His power was pre-flex. He can see a second into the future.

_Wow she's hot._ He thought.

"She can read minds." CJ interrupted his thoughts.

"No I can't. That's not my power." I said. You can never trust anyone. Especially girls that are out to get you.

"Well then what is it?" CJ practically spat. She also added a mental eye-roll, but with me, mental doesn't mean secret.

"Well it's kind of complicated. I can have any gift I want if I kiss a person that has it. So, for instance, if I kissed Cal, I would automatically become able to hear like he can. I can't absorb the powers any other way. It doesn't have to be the mushy slobbery kind of kiss, it could just be a peck, or even if I just brush my lips over you, I absorb your powers."

There were no thoughts. Just open mouths and silence.

"Hey guys!" A short squatty guy with greasy hair and braces came up to our table.

"What's the matter?" He said. Then he looked at me.

"Hey, we have a rookie!"

"My name is Ashleigh. It's nice to meet you Gabriel."

As soon as I said Gabriel, everybody winced.

"I'm sorry, you like to be called Gabe. I'm sorry."

"It's Ok?" He said. But I could tell it was a question. Then I figured out why. He had hyper-persuasion. He knew I could read minds, and he was trying not to think. Well, after I did a little probing, I figured out it was hard for him to concentrate and he had trouble not saying smart Alec comments.

Then I sensed the second cute guy's thoughts.Did you know that his name was Ian? _I'm the leader,I have to get all four of them out of the walls. _Then I saw a mental picture of an eight-foot wall made of solid concrete. But I also saw something else. A flicker. The wall wasn't real, it was just a hologram.

"Isn't that right, Ashleigh?" CJ said. She also gave me a sneer, but I decided to ignore it.

"Depends on what the question is." I said. I ate a good bit of soup so I wouldn't say anything nasty. Then the whole group quieted down.

"Didn't you wake up on your way over here?" Cal answered for her.

"What if I did?"

Please continue to third period class. Nutrition is now over, please continue to third period class.

I was about to get up and ask Suki where I got my schedule, when a steely looking middle aged man came and said,"Ian Archer and Ashleigh Cook, please come with me. Headmaster wants to see you."

"Yes, sir. How are the kids?"I asked.

"They are fine, thank you."

"What's your name? By the way, I think kids are way more important than the strip mall you go to every Thursday after work."

He said nothing which made me know that I had struck a soft point in his armor. But no knight I could think of had that much grease in his hair. I giggled in my mind. Just because mental things weren't secrets in others minds doesn't mean that my mind is broadcasted.

Then the stern man took us down a long corridor and led us to a large wooden door.

The room inside was nice and furnished with leather sofas and chairs. The walls were green and the carpet was shag. The faint scent of coffee wafted through the air.

"Please sit down Mrs. Cook." A man with a kind face with authority said.

"Ok, number one, do not call me Mrs. Cook, because that's my grandma's name. Call me Ashleigh. Two, I take it you just want to be called Headmaster. Three, I met your daughter this morning. I didn't know I would be rooming with her, you sly dog."

He didn't say anything, and just as I predicted, he was more protective of his thoughts than the guard was.

I can't say the same thing for Ian._ Well the walls definitely put a damper on a clean getaway, and there will be gnomes crawling all over the forests. If there are gnomes everywhere then we might be spotted or separated. We'll probably need to come up with a rendezvous point so if we do get separated..._

He thoughts went on and on about an escape.

"Ashleigh, I think, that you are much too powerful to be left alone."

"Why and how am I too powerful to be left alone?" I asked.

"You don't know the prophecy? Never mind, it was your parents right to choose to show you it. But it just says that you are and another are meant to be together, and will save the world and separate the Light from the Darkness. You are more important than you will ever know." He said. With a straight face, so I knew he wasn't lying.

"Do you know who the other person is?" Ian asked.

"We have an idea. Why do you think you are in here Mr. Archer?" Headmaster asked.

"What?" I said. This was way weird.

"You think I'm the guy who is destined to save the world with her? That's insane! I've never even met her before, and you are telling me that we are supposed to be, like, soul mates?" He said. He stood up really fast, and had an angry look on his face.

"You know what? I'm out of this looney bin. She's only 13! How am I supposed to share power with her when I can't open up, because she already knows what I'm about to say!" Ian said loudly.

"I only read minds when I want to." I mumbled.

"Here is your class schedule Ashleigh, and I will be waiting for you to return immediately after dinner, Ian. Until then you will not leave Ashleigh's side." Headmaster stated firmly.

"But Headmaster-" Ian insisted.

"You will do what I say or you will be sent to the West Campus." Headmaster was had the most serious face I had seen since the guard that brought me in here left.

Ian stormed out and I chased him after I got my class schedule.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what to tell you other than that. Why are you mad at me?" I asked.

"Why don't you read my mind and find out?" Ian said harshly.

"No." I said. "If you're so hell bent on being rude, then fine. I'm going to my dorm if you want to come and apologize later."

I stormed off and I could hear him calling my name and telling me to come back, but I didn't listen. I never listened. Do you know why? Because after you read their minds, you find out altered motives. Is that what everyone was going to think of me now on? That I was just going to read your mind and poof! invasion. And that they didn't have to talk to me anymore because I would just read their minds and that would just be a conversation! Well if they wanted to think that then fine!

Once I reached my dorm, I saw that CJ was in there crying. I didn't want to feel sorry for CJ, but she's one of those few people that has the most ugly face that gets all red and blotchy when she cries.

"CJ, what's the matter?"

"It's Ian! He said that he liked another girl now and that I should move on!"

"Don't cry about it, its ok. He's not worth anything anyway. If he chose someone over you, maybe that means it just wasn't meant to be."

"Maybe your right. It just means that someone better will come along for me." She said.

"That's the spirit. Now, let's go clean you up." I said.

Then we both started to walk to the bathroom.

"When you first came here, I didn't like you. But maybe, you know, I was wrong." CJ said.

"Thanks. It takes a lot of guts to admit that." I said.

"Your welcome."

"CJ, who is Ian's worst enemy?" I asked conversationally as we walked down the hall. It was really awkward because everyone was staring at CJ's blotchy face.

"Cal probably. But Ray is a close second. Why?" CJ asked.

"Who's Ray? Because Ian just made me mad, so I'm so retaliating. Are you dating either one of them?" I asked.

"Well, I was thinking that I could do the same thing just to make Ian angry, and it would be like a double whammy. I would go out with Cal. So Ray is all yours." CJ said.

"Awesome. Thanks CJ." I said.

"You're welcome."

Then we got to the bathroom. There were dirty yellow tiles, that I had a feeling were supposed to be white, and the dank smell that consisted of moldy conditioner and wet ceilings.

"You know, you really don't have to do this." CJ said.

"I think you're just embarrassed to be seen with the new girl." I said.

"That, too," she said and we both started giggling.

So after I left the bathroom I went out to find Ray. CJ told me that he was kind of dark, but he was good at getting guys mad. This was perfect. It wasn't too hard to find Ray because a year ago, I kissed a boy named Baker that had the ability to track without fault. So after five minutes I found Ray sitting alone. He was one of those strong, brooding, smart guys that make the other guy jealous perfectly.

"You're Ray right?"

"Yeah, what of it?" He said.

_God she's sexy. Hope she can't read my mind._

_"_Well would you be opposed to being my boyfriend and making Ian Archer jealous?" I said.

"I'd be your boyfriend anyway," he said,"but Archer being jealous is just a bonus."

"Perfect! Thanks." I said. Yes. That's in the bag. Now I need to find CJ and ask her if she asked out Cal yet. But first I had to get to bed.

So in the morning I woke up bright and early to go on a jog. After my mile jog, I went to Science.

That day, we dissected a frog. Ew. We had to make incisions in the chest and down the abdomen. I refuse to go farther than that because I don't want to make you puke. Then, Math. The Math teacher is a sweet old lady with white hair and a chiseled jawbone. Her teeth were as white as snow, and her skin was wrinkled like a cute little raisin.

"Now please quiet down and turn to page 298 in your textbook. This portion discusses the distributive properties. It's really quite easy, and we should be out of this lesson by the end of class."

Then it was blah blah blah. Let me tell you something, I am not smart. I have never been a straight A, or B, or C, or even D, student. But that doesn't matter. In a few years, getting into a college won't be hard for me. All I have to do is alter a few minds and I'll be able to pass easy, and then go to lawyer school, piece of cake.

"Ashleigh?" Math asked.

"Can you repeat the question, please?" I asked.

"You can read minds, yet you ask a question that is probably on all of the students' minds. Why?" She asked. All of the teachers had their minds sealed, which is why she didn't mention herself.

"I don't like using my gifts to cheat." I said. But even as I said it, I knew it was a lie. I cheated all the time. But I still got bad grades. I shrunk back in my seat.

"The question was 1(5f+6p)+8p(3)."

I read the mind of the total nerd in the class.

_Duh! Everybody knows that the answer is 5f+30p._

_"_Is the answer 5f+30p?" I asked.

"Is that a question or the answer?" She asked. She gave me a small eagle eye that made me squirm.

"It's the answer."

"It's correct."

Then it was blah blah blah blah blah. When I drift off, I dream. I dream of going to a lawyer school and being the most popular kid there. All the guys were into me, and I had so many friends, I had to have 2 phones to have enough contacts. Then a devastating 45 minutes later, I was walking down the hall looking for Suki and CJ.

So I found CJ and Suki talking.

"So, CJ, have you asked him yet?"

"Yes! He said yes!" CJ started saying again and again.

Just then Ian came up looking furious.

"I can't believe you Ashleigh!" Ian screamed.

"Hey, don't yell at my girlfriend!" Ray said coming out of nowhere.

"I can do anything I want to!" Ian yelled back at him.

Then they started fighting. Fists were going everywhere. For now Ray was winning, but you could tell that Ian could easily win and punch Ray's face in.

"Hey! Stop fighting!" I yelled.

They both stopped long enough so that I could walk in-between them and put a hand on each of their chests and keep them apart. Then I walked over to Ray and hugged him, and said,"You kicked his butt."

"Thanks, babe." Ray said.

"Don't call her babe." Ian said.

Ray tensed next to me and I just held his hand to make sure he didn't go and punch Ian's lights out.

"He can call me whatever he wants to because he's my boyfriend." I said so Ian, Suki, Gabe, CJ, Cal, and others that were in the hall could hear me.

"So the rumors are true then?" Ian asked in a depressed tone.

"Yeah. This is my handsome boyfriend right here." I looked over at Ray and squeezed his hand and winked at him.

"Ok babe, I'm gonna go to my next class. See ya." He put a lot of pressure on the word 'babe' just to get Ian angry. So, I gave him a hug, and started walking towards the dorm rooms with Suki, CJ, and Cal. Cal and CJ couldn't stop talking to each other, they were talking about everything they could think of; dogs,pets,books, teachers, classes, and the upcoming art project and what they would do for it. When they started talking about their friends CJ looked over at me, winked, and turned back to her conversation.

Abnormal to Normal and Back

Waking up was a trick, because the announcer woke us up at 6:30am! Well lucky for me, today was Saturday, and Ray said he'd take me out to show me around. Now all I have to do is ask Suki whether you could order from eBay off the PDA.

Last night, I had the creepiest dream ever. I was under the Earth I'm pretty sure, and then I came across yellow elevators. Then just as the yellow elevators were opening, the announcer's voice came and told me to get a grip and ask Ian what was in the yellow elevator and ask him who Whisper is. Then I woke up. Pretty scary.

Then there was a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" I asked through the door.

"It's me, Ray. Are you ready for me to show you around campus, my love?" Ray said in a mock Dracula voice.

"Ready as I'll ever be." I said.

Ray was really nice and showed me where West Campus was. He said he had never actually been inside but everyone that had been in there that were willing to say something about it said that it was terrorizing.

After the tour he brought me back to my room.

"Wow. I had more fun then I thought I would." Ray said

"Yeah it was pretty amazing wasn't it?" I said.

Then he started to lean in, and I leaned in and we kissed. It was nice. He took things slow, and eventually he took me in the dorm room. We sat down on the bed and he pulled a strand of hair away from my face, and we kissed again. We were there about 20 minutes, and then I took off his shirt. He had a large burn mark.

"What's this?" I whispered.

"I was in a fire when I was younger, and I wouldn't have gotten out if my dad hadn't sacrificed his life for mine." He whispered back.

"Oh." I said.

Then we started to kiss again. He was caressing my back gently, and suddenly, the door opened and CJ and Cal walked in. They were also followed by Ian, Suki, and Gabe.

_Holy nachos! When did Ray and Ashleigh start dating?_

_"_Gabe, I told,like, everyone that we were dating!" I said.

_I can't believe that I thought for a second I had a chance with her. Why couldn't she wrap her arms around me instead of that worthless slug. I want her to kiss me like she kisses him._

"You started it Ian. Let's leave. We want the others to have some privacy."

"Whatever you say, my love." Ray said.

Then that got Ian upset. He went in for a punch in the face while Ray was putting his shirt back on, but I jumped in front of him, and Ian ended up punching me.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry Ashleigh. This is all my fault."

And it definitely didn't help that the impact chipped off some of my cheekbone.

"Ashleigh, we have to get you to a nurse." CJ said.

"No, it's ok. I collected a power once that makes a physical injury heal. It will kick in in about an hour." I said

"An hour isn't soon enough." Ian said.

"I appreciate your concern, but for now, an hour is the best I can do. The ability will make it 10 times faster than it would if I let it naturally heal." I said.

"Let me kiss it and make it better," Ray said.

Then he started to just full on kiss me. I'll admit it was nice watching everybody's jaw drop at the surprise.

"Babe, he hurt my cheek not my lips." I said.

"I'm angry he hurt my beautiful girlfriend in any way." Ray said right back.

"Come on, let's leave." I said.

So as we were walking down the hall, Ray reached for my hand and we held each others. It wasn't a sweaty palms, smelly hands kind of holding. It was like I was holding a flower so delicate, it would break if I simply moved my hands.

"Do you think maybe I could stay in your room tonight, Ray?" I asked.

"I don't have a problem with it." He answered.

So we walked slowly back to his room.

I was really tired and Ray said I could have the bed and he would sleep on the floor. Little did I know, Ian Archer knew his way in the tunnels, and he was spying on me. Then I did know, because I heard him think _this would be the most awful time ever for them to start kissing again, and for someone to open the closet._ So with that being thought, I went over and started kissing Ray dramatically.

_Wow. Wasn't expecting that. But I wonder if she'll take off my shirt again. That would be so funny if Ian was watching right now. _Ray thought. You have no idea how funny it was that he said that. So just to humor him, I took off his shirt. I traced over his scar with my thumb, until I saw him look me right in the eyes. We just sat there for what seemed like hours, until he said the words that I never thought I would hear from anyone else other than my parents.

"I love you." He said. I burst into tears and cried into his chest. I fell asleep for a second just like that. Crying into a guy's chest. How awkward.

"I love you, too." I said through my tears and when I was fully woken up. I didn't know if Ray heard it, but I felt Ian's heart break into 2 pieces. I also heard what Ian was thinking.

_What? I thought they just started dating yesterday. What if I can never compare? What if I never get the chance? I told Headmaster that I would keep a watch on her, but I never knew it would be so hard to watch her fall into another guy's arms. I even told CJ to move on, counting on Ashleigh to say yes when I asked her to be my girlfriend._

Oh no. It was my fault that CJ was crying in our dorm? It's not my fault! It can't be because I had nothing to do with Ian deciding that.

"Ray?" I whispered in his ear.

"Yes, my love?" He said.

"Ian is in your closet spying on us," I said,"and I need to get back to my dorm room." I whispered back.

"Goodnight, my love." Ray said.

"Goodnight." I replied.

As I was walking back to my dorm room, I was thinking over what had just happened. Did Ian actually care about me that much? Did he act like he did, or did he for real?

My thoughts were interrupted by running of footsteps down the hall. All was silent except for the running feet, and there wasn't a person in sight.

"Ashleigh," Ian said,"please tell me you were acting, and that none of what happened in there was true."

"I can't, Ian. I meant everything I said to Ray. I love him. A lot." I said.

"But I love you. I want you, not anyone else. Why can't you say the same?" He said.

"Is that what CJ told you? That she loved you, and that she didn't want anyone else?" I retorted.

"No. She has an obsession with me. I only told her what she needed to hear. That she should move on. But I like you. I love you. I want you to be my girlfriend." Ian said.

"I don't know if I can do that. I just want you to leave me alone."

"It kills me that you would say that. You have to love me. We're soul mates, remember. I think you will learn quickly that I love you more than that slug you're dating does."

"Don't call him a slug! He is more handsome than you'll ever be!"

Then I stormed off for the second time after seeing Ian Archer.

After I went to sleep, I had another grotesque dream.

Running, running, running. I was running along dirty corridors and next to sewage pipes that ran along with me. Then, I couldn't run anymore because there was a yellow elevator in front of me. Just as it started to open, the announcer's voice came.

"Ask Ian Archer who Whisper119 is. Then tell him to take you to the yellow elevator. You have catching up to do Ashleigh."

"Why are you doing this? The email, the dreams, what are you trying to prove?"

"Not trying to prove, but to help. You need to understand that your destiny is more important and will only come into play if I help you."

"Who are you?"

"Don't forget!" She said.

Then I woke up.

The first thing I did was get dressed and went to breakfast. As I was leaving the dorm, I asked Suki and CJ if they were going to come with me.

"No, I still have to finish getting ready." CJ said.

"I'll come with you." Suki said cheerfully.

So we started walking. She was an avid thinker, and concocted interesting notions on the other people surrounding us. We were getting pushed and pulled around, but what Suki concentrated on was their voices. Which made sense. Suki's ability was that she could copy anyone else's voice, writing, and she didn't know it, but she could copy other peoples' ability, too.

"So, Suki, do we have any classes together?" I asked.

"Not that I know of." She answered.

"Hey, do they have any extracurriculars?" I asked.

"Yeah, they have the newspaper staff, the fashion club, glee club, chess club, and the Rooks. But girls aren't allowed into the Rooks because its a fraternity. But I'm in all of those clubs except the chess club and the newspaper staff and of course the Rooks. Why? Are you thinking you want to do an extracurricular?"

"I was thinking about it, but I wasn't sure if there were any cool clubs. Do they have dances here?"

"Yes, in fact, you just missed one a couple of weeks ago."

"Was it fun?"

"Not really. We had music from, like, the 70's, and we had to serve these really nasty sandwiches that had watercress in them and they were disgusting, and nobody even danced except CJ and Cal."

"So they've been together for a while now?"

"Yeah, but CJ broke up with Cal when Ian got here. Cal was really upset. But since they started going out again, he seemed so much less depressed."

"Suki?" I said. "What are gnomes?"

"Excuse me?" She said surprised.

"Well I got a little snatch of Ian's thoughts, and he was going on about gnomes. So what are they?"

"Gnomes are hideous creatures that have green eyes, and they come out in the forest every night. They are kind of the school guards. They are actually students, but Headmaster refuses to acknowledge their existence."

"So they aren't good?"

"Not at all. But let's move on to a less ugly subject. So how's it going with Ray?"

"He's doing awesome. If you promise you won't tell something, I'll tell you what he told me."

"Ok, I promise."

"He told me he loved me." I said.

"Really? What was it like? Was it all like romantic and mushy and sweet? Or was it not the cool kind of 'I love you,' but more like the 'I love you' from the devil's sweet home?"

"It was the cool kind of I love you. Definitely."

Just then we walked into the lunchroom and Ray came and got me so I could sit at his table. But Ian had other plans. While the other wasn't looking they would steal me so I could sit at their table. I barely finished my pancakes.

So for the next few days, that's how it went. Pretty normal until the fifth day after Suki told me what gnomes were. It was a Friday, and the weather was bad. I decided that I needed to see Headmaster about the Ian situation.

"Headmaster?" I knocked at the large wooden door that led to his office.

"Yes Ashleigh?"

"I was wondering if you could tell Ian to quit following me. It's getting extremely annoying having him tail me like I was the President or something."

"I'm sorry, Ashleigh, but if Ian doesn't follow you, something might happen to you."

"Well you see, I was studying with Ray a few days ago, and he was in the closet listening to everything we said. Now, I don't know how you fell about peoples' privacy, but I felt extremely violated." I countered.

"You have a point. And for your personal information, I am extremely keen on keeping peoples' lives private. Fine. I shall lift the Ian's following you around shenanigan. Thank you for putting this to my attention." He said.

"Your welcome. I am pleased to hear that you agree with me. And also, before I leave, I would like to ask you one quick favor." I said, shoving all the plea I had into my voice.

"Yes?"

"Well, I was wondering whether I might be able to rewrite the dance rules and regulations?" I asked politely.

"Well, I suppose you could." He answered back.

"Thank you, sir."

After that, I felt considerably better. Ian wasn't going to follow me, CJ was going to be less suspicious at me, and everyone else would be happy that we wouldn't have to have dances from the 50's. As I was walking to the dorm, I started tracking Ian to see where he was so I could find the most effective route to get away from him. But instead of him following me, he seemed to be in a room somewhere where people didn't go often. Then I tracked CJ, Suki, and Gabe. They were all in that deserted room. So I easily tracked them to a faded green door. I put my ear to the door and listened.

"She doesn't act like she wants to escape!" I heard Ian saying.

"I know she does. I can read her, remember? She is really agitated at not being told anything. She's really scared under her disguise. I say we show her and let her in." CJ said.

"I agree. Every night in her sleep she says 'Who are you? Why are you doing this? Why do I need to ask him who Whisper119 is? What yellow elevator?' It's pretty scary. She tosses and turns every night. I know she's scared." Suki said.

"I really don't know her, but I know she's nervous. Everyone is nervous when they first get here." Gabe said.

"But she's different. She reads minds. She could know our plans for escape and tell Headmaster. I just don't think it's safe to assume she would be good on the team." Ian said.

"She has a special power. What if we judged you because you had pre-flex? It's not her fault. Plus we need her on the team. She could have powers that would be useful to us that we don't even know about. We need her. Just because you can't stand her doesn't mean that it's smart to block out her good points and focus on the bad." CJ said.

Thank you, CJ!

"Just because she helped you a few times, doesn't mean you block out the bad qualities either. I don't trust her. I just know she's going to betray us." Ian said.

"You don't know that! You're just jealous that she's dating Ray instead of you!" Suki said.

"No I'm not!" Ian shouted.

"Yes you are! If you aren't jealous, then why are you shouting?" CJ asked.

"Because you guys won't see it from my point of view! If you only stopped and thought, what was it she made you think or do that made you all trust her? Gabe, don't you agree?" Ian said pleading with his voice.

"Man, I don't know. She hasn't done anything to make me suspect her, and she hasn't done anything to make me trust her. It's just, when you say it like that, you sound like you would rather have her for an enemy than as a friend, when the truth is, is that CJ is right. Ashleigh could have powers that none of us could have ever dreamed of that could help us in escaping." Gabe said. I could tell he was trying to hyper-persuade Ian into thinking like he was, but in Ian's jealous rage, it was near impossible.

"But what if she doesn't? What if we have seen everything she can do? What if we tell her everything and she gives it all up and tells everything for being friends with Headmaster? What do we do then? We would all get sent to West Campus and probably never be sent back. Is that who we want to trust an alliance with?" Ian said.

"Listen here Ian. We took the exact same risk with you. I had to study you to make sure you weren't a spy of Headmaster's. So are you saying that we should never had trusted you either?" CJ said.

I decided that whether or not they were going to let me in, that I needed to talk to them about me. Tell them all the powers I had, and everything I knew about why we were here, and what I could do.

I walked down back to the dorm room and, luckily, with no disturbances, I started to think about what the escape team had just said. So obviously I could trust CJ and Suki. But I needed to talk to Gabe more in depth and get him to trust me like he trusted the others. Ian was a lost cause, mostly because I was dating Ray. Now that I realize it, that wasn't a good political move. But if I broke up with Ray, all my problems would be solved real quick. So by the time I got all my thinking done, I had arrived at my dorm room, ready to finish The Odyssey, a science essay, and a project in art.

After some intense reading, a seriously long essay on the decaying body and its affect on the Earth, and a cool drawing of a whole lot of lips, Suki and CJ came back from the deserted room.

"You guys?" I asked.

"What?" They both said at the same time.

"Do you... Do you trust me?" I asked in a nervous, sheepish tone.

"Yes. I trust you with my life." Suki said immediately.

"Same here. You are like the sister I never had." CJ agreed.

"Thanks, you guys. But I am guilty of something that I want to tell you about. I didn't tell anyone about your escape," I told them both in a rush, because I saw the looks on their faces,"but I was tracking Ian. It's not what you think, I was only tracking him to make sure he wasn't following me. When I saw he was in the deserted observatory, I tracked you guys, and you were all, Gabe, CJ, Suki, and Ian, in that room. Then I overheard your conversation. It began with 'She doesn't act like she wants to escape!' and then ended with 'So your saying that we never should have trusted you either?' Then I left. I came back here. But I wanted to tell you my other powers. I can put anyone to sleep. Whether it's death or a coma, or just sleeping, it doesn't matter. I can also duplicate fingerprints. I have hyper-persuasion but I didn't get it from Gabe. Mine is stronger anyway. I can read minds, read emotions, and know all your secrets, your psychological build, and I can read things that are extremely important to you. I can also teleport, but before you get all suspicious about why I haven't escaped, it runs on Wi-fi. I can't transport other people with me, either. So, are you guys mad?"

"How come you didn't tell us? I can create Wi-fi hotspots, and putting people under? We could have used that in most of our battles! How does it work?" Suki asked.

"All I have to do is touch them, and tell them to sleep for however long I want. The best part, if I kill, it is virtually a painless death. But I've never actually killed anyone. It was always a very deep coma." I said.

"So, I need to ask you something." CJ said.

"Go ahead." I said.

"Would you ever betray us?" CJ asked.

"Never. I would rather die than betray a friend." I said.

"Thank you. Then we want to show you something." CJ said.

"Ok. But are we going to be in the forest, because if so, I think I'll just hang out in here." I said.

"No. Follow me." She said.

So we walked in a group past people getting to their dorm rooms, and people getting out of the showers, and people just standing around doing nothing. But as we keep on going, I suddenly realized that this was the way to the room with the faded green door. I keep quiet, but I started tracking various people to make sure none of us would be stopped and help up from getting to the green room. But as I started tracking Ian, he suddenly ran up behind us.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"To the Observatory, where else?" CJ answered.

"So it's an observatory?" I asked.

"It used to be an observatory. Now it's just an empty room that no one knows about. But the people who do know never come up there except for us. And now we are adding one more to the four Musketeers." Suki said.

"Do you mean me?" I asked.

"Yeah. Ian didn't want you to, but I guess you already knew that. She overheard you going off on reasons she shouldn't join us." She said to Ian.

"I don't care. I still think it isn't a great idea that we are letting her come to the Observatory." Ian said.

"Is Gabe coming?" I said.

"No. He can't come because he got sent to Headmaster's office." Suki said.

"Why?"

"Don't know. I just know that when I went into his room to ask him if he wanted to help invite you to the observatory with us, he was gone. The only thing he left behind was Senior Guapo and a note that said 'Sent to Headmasters', don't wait up.' With his signature and everything." Suki said.

Then a stopped. I remembered a dream I had recently. It was a note on a napkin that said 'I'm scared too' in neat cursive writing.

"Ian?" I said.

"What?" He responded.

"Who is Whisper119?" I asked.

Everyone stopped and looked at each other. Then I knew who she was. Whisper119 was the announcer. That's why I couldn't read her. She wasn't human. She was a computer.

"Take me to the yellow elevator Ian." I ordered.

"How do you know about the yellow elevator?" Ian asked.

"Whisper keeps telling me through my dreams. I need to ask Ian Archer who Whisper119 is and I need him to take me to the yellow elevators." I said.

We were running out of time. Whisper119 was telling me something important. And she was running out of time.

Alliances

"No. You're not ready to see the yellow elevator. You don't know anything about what we're doing, or what we've already done. However you learned about the yellow elevator, we don't have time to discuss, but I'm not going to take you to the yellow elevator." Ian said.

"Please Ian. You don't understand. Time is running out for all of us and don't have time to spare. You have to trust me." I pleaded with him.

"You haven't given us one reason to trust you." Ian spat.

"Fine. I know when I can't win. But let me just say because I haven't learned anything about your operation, I can't tell anyone about your plans. But you can be in this club without me." I said. I turned and stalked down the hall. When I got to my dorm, I saw the huge stack of homework on my desk and collapsed onto the bed.

I gave a huge yawn. After all the homework I did last night, I was pooped. And then, to top of all of my homework, I rewrote the entire dance rules and regulations book. Now if we ever have another dance, it will be beyond awesome! I looked around the room. Everything was exactly the way it was before I went to bed last night. Nobody had come in the room since I had been here. But then where was Suki and CJ? I slowly walked around. Both their computers were gone and so was the book of rules and regulations for dances. Something fishy was going down. But I couldn't let that little detail stop me from my day.

I shuffled to my closet, unfocused from being asleep. I gripped my favorite jeans and a cute ruffly red sleeveless shirt. I found black ballet flats that looked great. I walked to our bathroom and dressed. At first nutrition, l didn't sit with Ian and CJ and Cal, but hung out with some of my other friends.

"So have you seen Ray today, Ashleigh?" Allison asked. Allison was nosey, and her power was that she could remember any social piece of information she had ever heard or read.

"Actually, I haven't seen him all day. It's starting to worry me." I said. I knew Allison was going to tell everyone, and then that would draw Ray and Ian to me. It was a fool proof plan.

"I saw Ray earlier with CJ and Suki. But they weren't doing anything except yelling at each other." Margaret said. She scrunched up her nose when she said this and thought,"They were also being creepy."

"Really?" I raised my eyebrow. It was really unlikely for Suki or CJ to run around with Ray, even if they were yelling at him.

"Yeah. I think they were saying something like,"If you don't break up with her we'll break your nose!" Said Margaret.

"Well that sounds weird even for Ray," Allison said," and you have to admit, he's such a freak!"

I glared at Allison before she could say another rude comment on my boyfriend. She quickly closed her mouth. Before she could say anything, Whisper come on the inter-

come.

_First Nutrition is now over. Please depart for your first class of the morning. Have a great day._

I sighed gleefully. It was about time. Allison is annoying when it comes to gossip. She and her friends are mean. I hoped up from my chair quickly and put my tray away. I walked slowly to my dorm wondering if CJ or Suki would be there. I doubted it. When I say them at breakfast they had their backpacks with them.

But when I got back to the dorm, CJ and Suki were sitting on their beds talking. When I opened the door the immediately stopped talking and looked at me. I slowly walked to my bed. When I had gathered all the books I needed and had put them into my backpack, I looked over at them. They just stared back at me. So I left. The farther away from them the better. Before I had even closed the door they had already started their chipper conversation back up again. I rolled my eyes. They could be mean all they wanted. I still had other friends.

When my worrying subsided, I had arrived at science. But nobody was in the classroom. It was dark and the door was locked. I put my backpack down on the floor and unzipped it. I searched around the cluttered mess until I found my schedule. Yep, I did have science first. So where was everybody?

I went back to my dorm. If I ask CJ what's up, then I'll know why everyone is acting weird. When I got to my dorm, the lights were off. I reached over to the light switch and turn it on.

"Surprise!" There was a huge crowd of people that popped out from behind the beds and out of the closets. By the way, I probably should have mentioned that it was my birthday. At first I saw Suki and CJ with some other people, but then I could see Ray, Ian, and Cal. That all makes sense, though. CJ and Cal were there together, Ray was there for me, and Ian just can't stay away from my charm.

"Happy Birthday!" I heard one of my teachers say. Everyone was here!

"Did we get out of class and school just for my birthday? That's insane!" I smiled.

"And we don't do this for all of our students, so be grateful for what you have. I am so glad that you are turning..." Headmaster said. He trailed off at the end so I would answer his question.

"I'm turning 14. I'm so excited." I said.

Everyone laughed and smiled. My birthday party went on for hours. Everyone had an absolutely great time. We all laughed and played games and danced. We had awesome foods, totally awesome movies, and great music. The party lasted until dinner. Whisper had something special in mind for my birthday dinner. There was no salads, no fruits, no veggies. Just cake and ice cream. It was great. I had the best birthday ever.

I opened my eyes to a bright sunlight. The light was to bright to be the sun alone, and it wasn't a fake light.

"Morning sunshine. How are you?" A male voice asked. I groaned in response. Things couldn't possibly be worse. Being woken by a light that is blinding by a dude that I don't know.

"Who are you and what do you want?" I said.

"It's Ian. I want you to wake up all the way." He said. He gingerly lifted my head so I could look directly in his eyes. The light was a red LED light that he was shining in my eyes to try and wake me up. I looked in his eyes. He had beautiful green eyes that seemed to glow and shimmer in their own way.

"I'm awake. Why are you here?" I asked.

"I came here to make an alliance. I don't want to fight with you anymore. Actually, I think that if any of us need to escape, we are going to have to go to drastic measures. I think the only way we can leave is if you dump Ray." He said. He kept a straight face throughout the whole thing which bugged me.

"You are awful. You're so jealous that you would risk my mental health. You are a sick and terrible person." I said viciously.

He reached behind my neck quickly and pulled my face to his. When our lips touched, it felt like there was an explosion in my brain and it rocked my world. He was a great kisser. Just as I was thinking that he slipped his tongue into my mouth and licked my teeth. His hands slid down from my neck to my back. He started kissing faster and harder than he was before. I then realized what I was doing and I pulled away.

"No I can't do this. I have a boyfriend." I said.

"I know. I don't know what I was doing. I should probably go." He said.

"Wait don't go. Stay here with me and tell me why on Earth you would want an alliance with me." I said. I put a lot of emphasis on the last me so he would take me more seriously.

"Well, I figure if we stopped hating each other, it would be easier to get the group out of Tower Prep." He said.

"I'm not in the group! I have nothing to do with your little group that's so obsessed with leaving this school. Why do you want to leave anyway? This place doesn't seem so bad." I said.

"You don't understand. They are ruthless. They will stop at nothing to leave the balance of this school untouched. They will eat you alive if you even underestimate them for a second. You didn't see what happened to some of the people that were here." He said. At the last sentence, he trailed off and his voice got soft. His eyes clouded over, keeping me from seeing what he was thinking.

Oh, I forgot to tell you. Have you ever heard the phrase,'Eyes are the window to the soul?" Well, that's what actually happens. I have to see your mind to read it.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"Nothing, just bad memories. So what do you say?" He asked.

"I'm in. Now get out." I pushed him playfully out the door. He smiled. He has such an awesome smile. He laughed and left. When I shut the door, I slid down and sat on the floor. He was so amazing. How could I ever choose Ray over Ian?

_Knock, knock._

"Let me in!" CJ yelled,"This is stupid! What are you doing?"

"Can you wait two seconds?" I yelled back. I stood up and opened the door. She slapped me in the face. I staggered back. The place where she hid felt white hot and burned. My face turned red.

"Why the heck did you just do that?" I yelled.

"That was for being the girl that Ian dumped me for!" She sniffled. Then drew her hand back. I could sense heat on her. It was rolling of her in killer waves. She made for my face again, and I ducked as she took her second shot at me.

"It didn't even matter that you knew, but you didn't tell me?" she roared.

"It's not my fault! I didn't know!" I muttered.

"You freak!" she yelled. She took one more swipe at me that I avoided, then stormed out, leaving me to wonder how she found out in the first place.

Ian came back in abruptly.

"Was that CJ?" he asked. I could see a handprint on his face, and knew he had also had a run in with her.

"Yeah. Take me to the yellow elevators, and go tell Suki to round up the rest of the gang including CJ and tell them to meet us there," I ordered. Ian looked like he was about to protest, but decided against it and left.

The Color Yellow

We were heading to the stairs that seemed to go on forever. We were going to the sewers, my dreams had told me that much, but would we come across the yellow elevator? Would Whisper119 come to us like she had in my dreams?

Suki had rounded up the gang and met us in the rooms, but CJ was hard to contain. She kept yelling obscene names at me, but I ignored her and moved on.

"Suki, go get the eye from the Observatory, and CJ, find the files we got last time from Tower's office. We need those files if we want to learn more, and show Ashleigh what we learned last trip. Do you think that it will be okay now that Gabe isn't here?"

"I think we will have just as much a chance of doing this without him then doing it with him." CJ replied.

Then CJ and Suki ran off to go get the eye and the files that they had last time. I just stood there awkwardly while Ian prepared to go into the yellow elevator. He moved a few boxes so that him, me, Suki, and CJ would have enough room to hide if someone did come down here. I seriously doubted that anyone was stupid enough to come down here into this dark, damp, and humid tunnel of mold. The stench of poo and urine stained the air and tainted the sides of the tunnel, even the floor. The walls were mostly solid and rusty, and the floor had pools of what looked and what I hoped was water. There was no telling what kind of undiscovered animals and fungi was living and breathing down here.

"Come back here, Ashleigh." Ian whispered.

So I walked over behind the crates where we would hide until the others came. Except, I had to be a klutz and I tripped over a random pipe and landed in no other place than in Ian's arms.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, there was just this really weird pipe that juts out of nowhere." I said, just kind of jabbering on to avoid the awkwardness. But just then, he leaned in and I leaned in, and we kissed. With Ray, it was nice and slow, and with Ian, it was really fast. We were just kind of all of a sudden kissing, and then he took his shirt off. He had really big muscles for a guy that was only fifteen.

"I can't, Ian. I have a boyfriend, and I really like him, and I don't want to cheat on him." I said.

_God you're really cute when you babble. You are really cute when you do anything. I like you a lot. What number am I thinking of?(7)_

"You are thinking of the number seven. And thank you, but I have a boyfriend who could tell me the exact thing that your telling me. Plus, you might not even be telling the truth." I said.

"That's true. But you also have the ability to spot a liar. I have known this for a while, so don't freak."

He put my hand on his chest. It was so warm, you wanted to always keep it there forever. You could feel his heart beating rapidly, and you tell that he was scared of what I was going to say. So I did the unexpected and leaned up against his chest. His whole body radiated warmth. It was like sitting in a fire that wouldn't burn you, and kept you warm always. And his heartbeat slowed. It became steady and never-changing again. We sat there forever. His perpetual warmth keeping me warm in the cold, smelly, damp, sewers. Then I looked up at him.

"Do you really love me?" I asked. Why would he love me? I was just a girl that came from a small town in Tennessee. I was nothing compared to CJ or all the other pretty girls.

"I really love you. I love you more than Ray ever could. Please be my girlfriend." He asked. I could tell in his eyes that he wanted this so bad it was killing him. He had more doubts than I did. He was worried that he would never compare, that he would always play second fiddle in my love life. That there would always be someone better. "There will never be anyone better than you. I liked you from the first second I saw you walking to our table the first day I got here." I said.

"But do you love me?" He asked desperate.

"I don't know. I'm only thirteen. I mean fourteen. I don't know what I want, or whether you would be good for me. I don't think it will ever work out for us, but if it does, I'm sure I could try to love you." I said.

And then we just sat like that forever. I wanted to fall asleep in his arms, and I wanted him to comfort all of my insecurities, and wipe all of my tears away. I wanted him to be the man of my dreams.

"Guys! You guys!" Suki's voice carried all the way down the tunnels.

"Put your shirt on!" I whispered frantically.

"You guys!" Suki kept saying.

"What is it?" Ian said.

"It's CJ. She was taken by gnomes. There are two entrances to where the yellow elevator is. She is with Headmaster in the second entrance to the room where the yellow elevator. The yellow door in Headmaster's office is the second way to the Erasing room." Suki said.

Ian just kind of stood there in shock for a second.

"We have to go get her. If CJ has been kidnapped, Headmaster won't hurt her or do anything to her, but that doesn't mean the gnomes won't. She is..." I said. I was focusing really hard on where she was.

"She is in the forest." I said.

"Is she hurt? Is she moving around the forest, or is she just staying in one spot?" Ian asked. He sounded like an overprotective parent that lost his daughter at the movies.

"She has a broken leg and nose and she's unconscious. But there is no permanent danger unless the gnomes come back to finish her off." I said. It took more energy to track her than it usually did. They were in the forest somewhere, but I had a felling they were underground around large metal objects.

"Are they coming to the forest to finish her off soon?" Suki asked.

"No, they will only go back once they have finished the boy that tried to sneak off earlier today. All they have to do is hide the body in a sewer pipe, and that's what they are going to do to CJ." I said.

"Stuff her in a sewer pipe?" Suki asked.

"That's what they do with all the bodies that try to escape but don't. They eventually rot, but until then, they just stay in the sewer pipe. They don't even get buried." I said, trailing off a little on the end.

"Is that what will happen to CJ?" Ian asked.

"If we don't save her, then yes. Come on. Let's go kick some gnome butt." I said. Putting as much strength as I could into those words.

I started running and the others followed. I knew CJ was underground, and Ian had showed me everywhere was accessible by the tunnels that ran alongside all of the dorm rooms and probably out into the forest. The forest was off limits, but if we were unseen, then who could stop us? Answer: gnomes.

Standing in front of us we at least a dozen of the hideous green creatures that Suki had described. They were students all right, in ugly green helmets, and slimy fake fish skin without the scales, but with the smell. They made a shrieking and howling noises that made your ears sting.

Then Ian ran up to them and started fighting. You could tell it was evenly matched, but Ian would win. Then, I snuck up behind some of the gnomes. All I have to do was say coma and touch them and I would barely have to lift a finger.

"Coma!" As I touched seven of them on the back, they immediately fell. But then, some of the other gnomes went after me.

Since I kissed Ian, I had gained the power of pre-flex, and since I kissed Ray, I could have bursts of strength during fights. So, I was holding my own in the fight. But every time Ian and I took someone down, two more replaced it. Every time I could, I would touch one of them and say "Coma!"

After what felt like endless hours of battle, the remaining gnomes ran the way we came. You could just see their slimy green bodies fading into the dim light at was coming from the end of the tunnels.

"Suki? Do you think you could copy the sounds those things made?" Ian asked.

There was no reply. After a minute or two, we knew something had happened to her. So I tracked her.

"Ian. Suki was taken by the gnomes when they left. It's only us now." I said.

"It can't be only us! Track down Gabe, so we can find him, and tell him what's going on." Ian was getting desperate. You could tell.

I tracked them. All of them. They were all in one place. The sewer's pipes.

"They are in the pipes. The sewage pipes." I said quietly.

"No, they have to just look like they are. They are under the sewers and are getting more information on gnomes and Headmaster and the school. There is a logical explanation for all of this." Ian said frantically.

"Ian, if you keep denying the truth, the more we lose them. We have to go get them now." I said consolingly.

So I ran in the direction they were. Luckily, they were all in the same pipe, so all we had to do was pull one of them out, then the others. Then we arrived in a long tunnel. It was still moldy and smelly, but it was warmer.

"We must be closer to the ground." Ian said, noticing the same thing.

So I used my super-strength to pop open the sealer of the pipe. Then I pulled out Suki. She was still awake, but she was hyperventilating, so I told Ian to take her to the nurse's.

"But the nurse might be one of them!" He said.

"I know you don't want to risk it, but right now we don't have any time. They could die very soon. Now go!"

"I'm not leaving without you." Ian said.

"Stop being chivalrous, and help Suki!" I insisted.

So he went to the nurse's hesitantly. Then I pulled out CJ. She was still breathing, but also unconscious still. I lay her down and took off her sweatshirt and balled it up. I sat her head on it to elevate it and slowly drain all the excess blood out of her head. Then I went to pull Gabe out. I could only reach the tip of his shoe, and that wasn't enough to pull him out by. Then Ian came from behind and lifted me a little bit so I could reach Gabe's foot. He was almost dead, but not quite.

"You have to get him to the nurse. Now. He's gonna die in minutes if you don't." I said.

"But what about you?" Ian asked.

"I'll just go to the Observatory and run over the evidence you've collected so it doesn't look too suspicious. Is that alright?" I asked.

"No, you are coming with me. I am never letting you get away from me again," he said.

"Fine." I said. Pulling people from their deaths is a energy waster.

So we ran through the tunnels, me with CJ on my back, and Ian carrying Gabe. When we reached the nurse's office, I was shocked at what I saw. It was the most awful room I had ever seen. There were gray walls, and white tile floors. There was zero color, even in her office. Her being the nurse. She had red hair and large eyes with glasses.

"Ian? Have you come back with more injured people? Where are you finding all of them?" She said. Her voice was slow and raspy.

"I think there was a fight in the lunchroom that Whisper didn't see, and they got hurt. Really badly." Ian lied.

"So you say. Well Miss Sato has a broken arm and rib. And they are getting worse. What on earth happened to these children? Please, set Gabriel and Miss Ward down. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Miss Ward has a broken nose and leg. Her nose is crushed, and leg is only fractured. Now Mr. Gabe has all of his ribs broken, and his foot is sprained. What was this?" She said, looking at us now.

"We don't know ma'am. We were getting to our dorm rooms, and saw them all laying on the ground." I said. I vaguely heard Ian say _nice one!_ In his mind.

"Ok. Well you may go to your dorm rooms now. You can't come back until Tuesday."

"Yes ma'am." I said.

Then we left. Not that I minded. That place was creepy.

"What now?" Ian asked.

"Whatever you would normally do. Don't act like something was wrong, people would get suspicious. Just lay low." I said. I hated bossing him around like I was the leader of the group.

"I don't have any other friends besides them. Could I maybe hang out with you? Temporarily, of course." He said.

"That's fine. If you want to I mean. I don't want to force you into anything you don't want to do." I said.

"What about Ray?" Ian said.

"He's by boyfriend, and I'm his girlfriend. I going to hang out with him like I usually do, until CJ, Gabe, and Suki, get out of the hospital wing. " I said.

"Then what?

"Then we escape." I said.

Hell's Hospital

So that whole week went by in a flash with no word from the hospital wing. I was by myself in my room the entire time. Ian was, too. Then a month went by, and CJ, Suki, and Gabe still had not returned. Days at lunch were wonderful, because Ian and Ray didn't fight over me anymore. But only because they had assigned days where they sat by me. Otherwise, they would be trying to rip out the other's throat. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, Ray sat by me. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, Ian sat by me.

Today was Thursday, so Ian was sitting by me.

"Hey Ashleigh?" He asked. I wasn't going to read his mind, but he was hesitant, and it was important.

"Yes?"I asked.

"Maybe I could sleep in your room tonight. I don't want want to be alone anymore." He said. He looked really guilty, and I could tell that he felt like this was the sort of question that the damsel in distress ought to ask.

"Sure. But go through the tunnels. I don't want anyone to get suspicious. Especially Ray." I whispered.

"Especially Ray, what?" Someone asked. I turned around. It was Ray.

"I can't tell you Ray. It's a surprise, and if I ruin it, the others will kill me. See you later, third period is about to start." I said. I motioned with my eyes for Ian to come with me.

"Yeah, I've got to go too. See you later." He said to Ray.

After I got a head head start, Ian had to run to catch up with me.

"Good save." Ian said.

"Thanks. If Ray knew what we were up to, he would go bananas." I said.

I tracked Ray to make sure he wasn't following us. Nope.

"I wasn't lying. We really do have to go to class." I said, giving a sheepish smile.

_You have nice teeth._

"Is that all you can say about my smile?" I said.

"No, I think you have a beautiful smile. Your teeth are beautiful, and I really like you." He said.

"Like I haven't heard that more than once." I said casually. But truthfully, whenever he said that, it made my heart flutter and my head spin.

"Seriously?" He asked.

"Yeah! Don't you know? I was going to be the prom queen, and elected best looking girl." I said sarcastically.

Just before he made a snarky comment, we arrived at my third period class.

"We'll deal with this later." He said seriously. I rolled my eyes.

"Is that the best you can do?" I said back.

So, in the science lab, we were working with sulfur. We we working on the effects it had in all all three of it's stages. Liquid, solid, and gas. It was pretty harmful, but by far my favorite was gas. After we got out, Ray was waiting for me outside my classroom.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were at your own classes." I said, and gave him a gentle push.

"Just waiting to see my girlfriend. She's been avoiding me all day." He said.

"No I haven't, you just happen to not be looking in the right places. What do you say to that?" I asked.

"I have been looking in every nook and cranny of the school. I even checked in the janitor's closet, and Headmaster's office. I asked him where you were, and he said he didn't have a clue. So where were you?" He said. He had this really insecure look on his face.

"I was doing something I can't tell you about because it's a surprise. Did you know that the best kind of prize is a surprise?" I asked. I know it was an extremely cheesy joke, but I had weird humor.

"I think you were hanging out with Ian Archer." He said.

"So what if I was? That doesn't matter because I am not cheating on you." I said.

"I don't know if I can trust when you're with him."

"You don't trust me?" I said.

"No. No, not really."

"Then maybe we should break up." I said.

"Fine. You were a lousy girlfriend anyway." He said.

That is when I started crying, and I ran to my dorm room. I don't know how long I was in there crying before Ian came in.

"Hey, are you OK?" He asked.

"What does it look like, stupid?" I snarled.

He held up his hands in surrender.

"Hey, I was just asking. But seriously, are you OK?" He asked.

"No. Ray thought I was cheating on him with you and he broke up with me." I explained.

"But that's not the reason you're sad is it?" He said. He was cautious.

"No, he said I was a lousy girlfriend." I said. Then I started balling some more.

"Hey, hey, its Ok, everything is OK." He said reassuringly. Then he came and sat beside me and started patting my back.

"Would you ever say that to me?" I asked.

"No, never. I love you." He said. He looked straight into my eyes, and it felt like he was staring into my soul. Then he leaned in. Kissing him was like kissing the sun. It was hot, and it made you warm on the outside and inside. It went on forever. There were no interruptions until Ray waltzed in.

"I knew it. You can't keep your hands off a guy for more than a minute before you just move on to the next guy." He accused.

"You have a problem! I have been a faithful girlfriend since the beginning!" I shouted.

"You only dated me to get Ian jealous!" He screamed.

"You said that it didn't matter, that you were fine, and that you would date me anyway!" I said.

"I never said that! You just assumed it was what I meant." Ray said.

_I guess that means that I came in here for no reason. I was supposed to be apologizing and asking her back._

"Is there something you would like to say, or are you just in here because you got lost?"

"No. There is nothing I want from you." He said 'you' as a sneer, so I know it was a joke.

"Then get out." I said.

All that time Ian said nothing. He just sat there staring at me, like I was crazy. After Ray stormed out, Ian stood up.

"Well, that was..." He said.

"Yeah." I said.

Then I walked to third period class. It was like that. Normal. It was normal. What a weird thing to say. I went to classes, sat by Ian and Cal at all of my meals, and did my homework. One whole week after the Ray incident, it was during lunch when the serious dude came in and told me and Ian to come with him. I looked at Ian, and he looked back. At the same time we got up and followed the man.

We were led to Headmaster's office.

"Ashleigh, so good to see you, but at the same time, I bring terrible news." He said.

"What kind of terrible news?" I asked.

"The worst kind. Gabe, Suki, and CJ are all dead. I'm so sorry." He said. There was a plastic expression on his face, and I knew that did not mean anything good.

"How did they die?" Ian asked. He was close to tears, I could sense it.

"They were killed by the terrible injuries they sustained from that awful brawl in the cafeteria." Headmaster replied. He was still wearing his mask, so I knew that he was lying.

Then, Ian sat down and put his head in his hands. He didn't cry, but he was upset. Really upset.

"Can we leave so I can console him?" I asked.

"Yes, you may leave. But you may not tell anyone that was not in this room today. Do I make myself clear?" He asked.

"Crystal." I replied.

"You do know that he was lying right?" Ian asked.

"Of course. I'm the mind reader, remember?" I said.

"You said that you couldn't read Headmaster's mind." He said.

"No, I can't,but it doesn't matter, I can tell when you're lying. Or Headmaster," I said.

He nodded his head.

_So how do you think they really died? Did they murder them? Where did they stash the body? There are just so many questions surrounding the question. _

"I don't think we should talk about it out in the open. Come to my dorm room. Right now." I said.

"I agree, but I don't think we should go to your dorm room." He said. He didn't sound positive.

"Then where should we go?" I asked.

_Observatory._

_Final Decisions_

We were searching through bundles and bundles of papers for the only real thing that mattered at the moment.

"Mr. Sato, you don't understand. As Suki's father, you have to understand, that nobody regrets her demise more than I." He was frantically speaking through the phone. If they lost the one person that practically funded the school by themselves, and provided all their electronics, he would be toast.

"If you regret her demise, then why did you let it happen in the first place? I will not tolerate this, and I am considering stop my funding to the school." Mr. Sato said through the phone. Then he hung up.

"Whisper?" He said.

"Yes?" Her electronic voice answered.

"I fear murdering Suki and her gang of bandits was a bad idea. My final decision is to lock up Ian Archer and Ashleigh Cook on the West campus, and to make sure they stay there. Until death do they part."

Over the Security and Through the Woods

"So what do we do?" I asked.

"I don't know what to do. All I know, is that we have to escape. If we don't, they will kill us too, I'm sure of it." Ian said.

"You are completely right. But when we leave, then where will we go from there? We don't even know where we are in the world. We might not be even in the U.S." I said.

"Doesn't matter. We need to escape right now. At this second." He said.

"You can't be serious. We can't go right now! We will be too obvious!" I said.

"Please, run away with me." He said. He stared right into my eyes. We leaned in and kissed. Hotter and faster, until he got my shirt off. He reached around to the back of my neck and brought my neck closer to his lips. While he was kissing my neck he would nip a little here and there.

"Wait. Stop." I demanded.

"Why?" He murmured into my neck.

"Because we need to focus on the plan. Yes I'll run away with you right now." I said reluctantly.

He grabbed my shirt from off the ground and threw it at me. He got a huge bag of food, and a rope and on the way out the door, a quick kiss on my cheek.

"Come on." He said.

We ran through the halls, and out of the dorm house. All of the buildings were made of red brick, and were marvelous in every way.

Finally we were in the woods. As we were running, we were talking to each other too.

"Hey, if we don't make it out alive, I love you." I screamed.

Just as I said that, I saw a flash of green, and the overwhelming smell of rotting fish entered my nostrils and almost made me gag. Great. Gnomes. There were only about twelve, so it didn't seem like it would be that long of a fight.

"Coma," I screamed as I touched one of them. Burst of strength, pre-flex here and there and many, many, many mind readings.

Then, as soon as it begun, it was over, and Ian and I were gasping for breath.

"You ready to get a move on?" I asked.

"Ready if you are." He staggered those words out of his mouth.

"Let's go." I said.

Then we were on the run again. We kept running for what seemed like days, but was really only 20 minutes. Then, we reached the outer wall.

"It isn't real. It is just an illusion. Touch it." He looked at me funny, but obeyed. When his hand would have made contact, it went straight through the wall.

"No way!" He said under his breath.

"No way is right." Someone said. We both turned around fast to Ray. Standing on top of a hill, sneering down on us.

"So the two love birds have decided to escape." He said.

"We have to. They are planning something dreadful, and we were not going to survive. We have to leave." I explained.

"You think I don't want to escape? Why didn't you just tell me?" He asked.

"I couldn't," I said, preparing to go on, but then a staggering green slimy fish-man came up behind Ray and stabbed him in the back of the heart. Ray looked confused, then fell to the bottom of the forest floor with a _thud._ He didn't move, and I couldn't read any of his thoughts.

"NO! HOW COULD YOU KILL HIM, YOU AWFUL PERSON!" I screamed. I concentrated with all my might and pointed my finger at it.

"Death." I said quietly.

And the green monster dropped dead. Never to see the sun again.

"You killed him?" Ian said.

"Yeah. Let's leave now." I said forcefully. "Are we going to my house or yours?"

"Let's go to yours. My parents are neglecting, and don't care about me." Ian said bitterly.

So we started walking and talking. Just about everything we could think of. We talked about my friend back home named Tucker, and this girl that was totally obsessed with him to the sickest degree. Then finally, we got to a place with Wi-Fi, and we teleported to a forest behind my house.

I walked around the house to the white front door. It was the spring, and my mother had placed a decretive wreath on the door to be like a Martha Stewart clone. I gazed over at Ian.

"Are you ready?" I asked. He nodded slowly and looked at the door expectantly. I put my thumb on the doorbell and softly pushed. I heard the familiar _ding dong _that I had known so well and I heard a rustle, and my parents both opened the door.

"Mom, Dad?" I said.

"Dear, we are so glad you're home!" Mom said. She burst into tears right there and Dad put his arm around Mom and pulled her close.

"Where did you go? Who are you with?" Dad asked sternly, but looked confused.

"You mean you didn't send me to that school?" I asked.

"What school? No, we would never send you to a school that we hadn't checked out first. We wouldn't do that to you!" They said.

"Mom, Dad, this is Ian. He is this really nice boy that I met where place where my kidnappers took me. We were at this private school called Tower Prep. But Ian doesn't have anywhere else to go. Can he stay with us?" I asked.

"Of course. Come on in." They said. They led Ian and me into my small rinky dink house. When you get through the front door, there is a little foyer that leads to the kitchen and the den and bathroom. To the right of the front door was mom's office and she used it for everything. Sometimes, she slept there. All the walls were beige because we were planning on moving soon and we needed to have a 'neutral' color. Personally, I think it looks like someone threw up on the walls. There were stairs and they led up to my parents room, my little sister's room, my room, and our playroom. The whole place smelled like pot roast and vanilla. My dad led us and sat us down at our kitchen table while they made dinner. While they were cooking, Ian stared at me.

"You have the coolest parents ever." He smirked. "My parents would never let a person of the opposite gender live in my house," he smiled.

"Thanks." I said, giving a shy smile.

"So, Ian... how much money do you have?" My mom asked nonchalantly.

"MOM!" I yelled.

"What?" She asked and looked offended,"I need to know if he comes from money or not." She explained.

"Does it matter?" I asked. Ian was trying to choke back laughter and I could feel heat rising in my cheeks.

"Yes! Now that you're back with a boy, I need to know where he comes from and how much money he has." She said. She had a smile plastered on her face. But something wasn't right about her smile.

"Are you ok, mom?" I asked tentatively.

"Yes just fine, honey, now go up to the attic and get a nice little space ready for Ian. We don't want him to be uncomfortable on his first night here, do we?" She said.

I nodded slowly and led Ian up to my room. I looked over at him, but said nothing. I pulled down the latter to the attic and climbed up. We have one of those attics where you pull down a string, and stairs descend from the ceiling.

The stairs were moldy and smelled like mothballs and bat poop. He climbed in after me and looked around his new room. There were oil paintings and old furniture that wasn't being used. There was a bed and a dresser, but no closet. I smiled apologetically and glanced around his new room.

"It's not the neatest, or the greatest, but it will have to do for now. But you can share a bathroom with me, and we can go to the mall later and buy you clothes," I said, working out everything out in my head. He grinned and sauntered over to me and gave me a big hug. I hugged him back and looked up at him.

"This is my home now, and you make it a million times better," he said. Tears brimmed at my eyes and I wiped them away.

"You're the best. So now we have to go shopping," I laughed and sniffled.

Green Means Go

Ian crawled into the car. It was a shabby white Volvo and I was embarrassed about him seeing it, but he liked it.

"It's a car with character," he said happily. He held my hand as my mom slowly got into the car and turned the ignition. He said that his real parents never took him shopping, so that he would have fun no matter where we went.

We soon arrived at the mall, and Ian ran out of the car and into the North-gate mall before my mom had even parked. He was waiting at the door and held it open like a gentleman for both of us and for an old lady that came in behind us.

But my mom dragged both of us back in the car. She pulled my hair, and Ian's shirt ripped a little.

"You know, I remembered that I left my purse at home. We should probably go get it, or I can't get you guys anything," she said. There was a glint in her eye, and I knew we were in trouble, but she shoved us in the car and raced us all the way home.

When we got there, she followed Ian and me inside and sat us down.

"You all are naughty children," she said with a smirk. "We sent you to that school because they want what's best for you, but you ran away," she said getting louder and louder.

"Run!" Ian yelled to me, just as my mom changed into none other than Headmaster. Headmaster grabbed a vase of flowers and crashed then over Ian's head, who dodged it, and in a second, was captured in a headlock. He struggled to get free, but Headmaster squeezed tighter until Ian's face looked like a cherry tomato, and he passed out. Headmaster let go with a grunt, and kicked him in the chest.

"Stop! Why are you doing this? Are you afraid we'll tell someone about Tower Prep?" I asked. I was trying to get answers from him, but he just stood and sneered down at me.

"Why _would _I tell you? Now that CJ is dead, I have nothing to live for," a defeated look passed over his face, only to vanish again, "and neither do you. I killed both of your parents, and their bodies are somewhere in Tower Prep. But you'll never go back there and find out, you know why?" He said, pausing his rambling lecture.

"Why?" I said suspiciously.

"Because I'm going to kill you, right know, right here. And who's going to save you? Nobody cares about you, and the people that did are either dead or 'missing.' "He said, putting air quotes around missing. I snarled at him, and he stood and walked over to me laughing.

I tried to stumble backwards, but he caught my chin and held me strong grip. He looked into my eyes, and slapped me. He still held my chin, and he kept punching. There was nothing getting in his way, now that Ian was gone. I tried reading his mind, but it was locked up tighter than the bank. He punched me one good time and I fell to the floor. He kicked me in the stomach, and I lay weak and limp on the ground. He picked me up by the scruff of my thin neck and threw me against my kitchen wall. I let out a small groan, and held my head up long enough to see Headmaster pull out a two-barreled gun. I tried to gasp for air, but my throat and lungs wouldn't work right. I could feel my life slipping away, and I saw Ian get shot first.

Blood slowly seeped out of the gunshot wound to his back, and he opened his eyes and gave me a look. A look that said, _I love you, no matter what happens to me and you, _and he closed his eyes and died.

I could feel my need to live slowly growing in my soul, and I groaned as I stood up to my feet. My whole body felt like it had gained a thousand pounds, and I couldn't stand up well, and I had to lean against a chair that was beside me.

"You really think you can defeat me, just by standing, no, _leaning_ against a chair?" he snickered. I looked at him seriously.

"I know I can beat you with just me leaning against this chair. But you better watch out, cause I'll kick your butt," I said. He looked at me and raised his eyebrow.

"You think so?" he asked. He walked over and pushed me down and I fell on my butt. I moaned and tried to get back up, but he walked and stared over me, and pinned me on the floor with his foot.

"You can't even fight fair," I told him. He pondered what I said, and took his foot off my chest. I stood up and moaned softly. He grinned and reared his arm back. I ducked before he punched me and I kicked him in the back. He staggered forward and whirled around. When he did, I punched him in the face. Blood dripped steadily out of his nose, and it was crooked. I saw the block of knives out of the corner of my eye, and I knew what I had to do.

He grabbed my arm, and I heard it crack. I gasped and he squeezed harder. I rammed the toe of my metal toed cowboy boots into his shin and he fell to the ground. I kicked him in the stomach, and I just kept kicking. He started gasping for air, and I knew that he was dying. I left him on the floor for just a second to go get the sharpest knife I could find. I slowly walked over to him, and recognition cleared up his eyes. He held up his hands in surrender, but we both knew it was pointless. I walked over to him and bent down.

"Please don't kill me," he begged, "what would CJ do?" he asked.

"CJ is dead. You and your stupid school killed her and my friends. All I had left of that place was Ian and you killed him," I said. A tear ran down my bloodied face, and I plunged the huge knife into his chest. Blood stained his blue suit and I saw his eyes close.

"Why? Why did you kill me? I was supposed to kill you!" he whispered. He chocked and blood poured down and onto my tile kitchen floor. And those were his final words. I stared at my hands and realized what I had just done.

I killed someone. Like, for real. Guilt poured into me, and I looked onto the floor and turned to see Ian's lifeless body, and I saw his eyes flutter. I gasped and kneeled by his side. His eyes opened all the way, and I kissed his forehead.

I sat straight up in my bed. What had just happened? Was I still at Tower Prep? I looked around. My blue bedroom with white and yellow flowers loomed around me. I stared at my bookshelf, where books were piled in mindless stacks where I was the only one who owned those books.

No, I was in my room, where everything was the day I left it. So where had I gone? What had happened?

I walked downstairs and everything was pristine and perfect, exactly like it was when I left. I could hear thumping down the stairs, and prepared myself for the worst. Maybe Ian, maybe Headmaster, risen from the grave. But no, it was my mother.

"Hey, sweetie, how are you this morning?" She asked and smiled. It was her real smile, and I knew what had happened.

It wasn't a big deal, and now I knew everything was back to normal. But I wondered about where I had gotten the idea for it. I don't have super abilities in real life, so why make it up? But I brushed it off and became my wonderfully perky self again. I mean who would care? All I knew, was that I just absolutely couldn't tell my mother.

But then again, it _was_ just a dream...

But I went back upstairs and there was a letter for me.

_Dear Ashleigh,_

_Thank you._

_ Sincerely,_

_ Whisper119_


End file.
